The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

leadership for the recall of Ambassador Puzanov from Kabul. The ambassador himselfvoiced a different opinion. “Amin is addressing Soviet leadership with the request toreceive him in Moscow officially as the head of state. Only if such a reception occurs will hefeel confident in his position.”“You shouldn’t have agreed,” Bogdanov told the chief military adviser. “You are not adiplomatic courier. There is an accepted protocol for the transfer of such materials. Thereare official channels, for example the Afghan embassy in Moscow.”“I couldn’t refuse the head of state,” Gorelov objected.“He’ll be ordering you around soon,” said Bogdanov.“And you would only prefer an obedient and convenient head of state,” respondedGorelov with irritation that bordered on anger, adding, “so that he would be tipsy startingin the morning, like Taraki?”Such exchanges between KGB and Soviet military representatives became fixturesduring Amin’s reign. Gorelov was determined not to join the common anti-Amin line thatwas becoming increasingly obvious in private conversations and cables sent to Moscow.But this time, Puzanov intervened. “Do you think, Leonid Pavlovich,” he said, addressingBogdanov, “it would be possible to discreetly open the package to familiarize ourselveswith the contents?”“Technically it is possible, but only under the condition that we receive the packagein advance, so that we have sufficient time.”“Let’s do our best,” pleaded Puzanov, who strongly disliked the idea of secretcorrespondence. He did not expect anything good for himself to come of this episode.607